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Taking a walk down memory lane: A tribute to You Tube and Olivia Newton-John

Breaking from politics for the evening …

A few readers have steered me in the direction of YouTube and I have to confess I’m close to obsession with searching for fun videos to add to this site.

Special thanks to ST reader Severian and a few others for pointing out the more fun videos to be found there – I also like that it looks like some old MTV music videos have been taped directly from TV and have been uploaded onto You Tube. I just found one of my favorite songs from when I was (much) younger: “Magic” by Olivia Newton-John. Ok, yes, I was a big fan – in fact, her “Making a Good Thing Better” album was the first album I ever owned as a kid. The next album I owned was the double album soundtrack for Grease, the movie in which – as we all know – she played the character Sandra Olsson. I lost count of how many times I watched that movie. I know. Go ahead and say it. I’m a total cheese puff.

When my family moved to Charlotte in the early 80s, I was still a devoted ONJ fan, and not long after we moved here the “Physical” album came out. Of course, the album was a must-have for me, and the controversy over the title song made it even more of a must-buy (BTW, I still have this one as well as “Making a Good Thing Better” on vinyl). As far as I know, that was and remains ONJ’s biggest album. Not long after I purchased the album, a People magazine came out with ONJ on the cover. At the time, I was in a 5th and 6th grade mixed class, and there was a young fellow from the 6th grade section whom I had a crush on. I thought if I got my hair cut like ONJ, he’d notice me as more than just the tomboy that I was. I mean, look at ONJ in this “Magic” video (which I believe was part of a videotape that was used to help promo the “Physical” album):

It was either that look, or this one, which my mom would have (rightly) ruled out. I was 11, afterall:

I figured my getting my hair cut like hers from the “Physical” album would be a sure-fire way to get the attentions of the 6th grade cutie I and several other gals in my class drooled over. Thinking like most girls at that age, I thought to myself I just needed the haircut to get the attention. I know better now, but then I was just as foolish and naive as other gals my age. So anyway, I went to a local salon here, and with mom’s permission, got my hair cut and styled like ONJ’s from the People magazine cover. I went into school the next day, thinking David would fall all over himself when he saw me. He didn’t, and I went through most of the day wondering if he’d even noticed my new look. Finally, at the end of the day, I got up the courage to ask him if he’d noticed I’d gotten my hair done. He said yes but didn’t elaborate (typical male!). I asked him “well what do you think?” His answer was that he thought I looked like the following male rock star:

The title of that song is “Some Guys Have All The Luck” – that particular day, this gal who was told she looked like a guy had no such luck

Fast-forward a couple of years, and to another guy I had a crush on. This guy, unfortunately for me, had a crush on my older sister, who at the time looked like (who else?) ONJ. This video (also of the song “Magic”) has ONJ with a different hairstyle and overall look, and my sister easily could have passed for her stunt double:

Sis was just a bit shorter, though. Otherwise, they’d have been able to pass for twins. This is likely how my 7th grade crush looked at her as well. How did he view yours truly, OTOH? Overheard in the background of a phone convo with a mutual friend, he noted quite casually that he thought I was a dead ringer for the following Euro-pop star lead singer (the band is The Flock of Seagulls):

The name of the song is “I Ran” – needless to say, I ran that day … off the phone, and straight to my room to punch the bed pillows a few times! Those two instances in my early years of being told I look like a male singer spurred on my internal vow to never have my hair cut above shoulder length again

Oh, did I mention that I have the soundtrack to the ONJ movie Xanadu, too? Here’s the title track to the movie:

Check out the hair! I have a salon appointment this weekend. Maybe that’s the look I’ll go for. No mistaking ST for a male with that one, eh?

Make sure to check out YouTube some evening when you have some time on your hands. Eventually you’ll find a video or two there that will have you taking a trip down memory lane, too.

7 thoughts on “Taking a walk down memory lane: A tribute to You Tube and Olivia Newton-John”

That post cracked me up! From reading your bio, I conclude that we’re basically the same age. Anyway, my next door neighbor and I used to invent roller-skating routines to the “Grease” soundtrack, and then we’d force our mothers to watch us put on the performances in the driveway.

Oh, yes, and I enjoyed the story of haircuts and sixth-grade romance. I’ve never had short hair, so being told I had a male singer’s haircut was never a problem (unless, of course, it was someone from Warrant or Skid Row in the late 80s)

However, I had braces from junior high through ninth grade. Funny how none of the boys I really liked at that point noticed me until AFTER I had the braces taken off! Anyway, thanks for the fun trip down memory lane.

The “Let’s Get Physical” 45 was the first record I ever bought — I think I was about eleven or so. I remember telling my mother that it was about exercise, and I believed that, too! I mean, she was in her exercise clothes and headband in the video.